Spiritwalker 3: Cold Steel Read Free

the
     street, while the living quarters were laid out in a square whose center was a courtyard.
     Because it was hot year-round in the Antilles, most of the daily life went on in the
     spacious courtyard. A wide trellis and a canvas awning covered the benches and tables
     where customers drank and ate and gossiped, but right now, with the heat of the afternoon
     ebbing, the courtyard was empty except for Uncle Joe and the lads setting up benches
     and trays while Aunty Djeneba and her granddaughters cooked in the outdoor kitchen.
    They were not one bit overawed by Bee’s borrowed consequence as she made respectful
     goodbyes to the women and charming farewells to the menfolk. Outside the gate, Taino
     attendants handed her into the carriage that had waited there half the day while she
     visited me. We embraced and kissed, after which she promised ten times to return in
     the morning.
    “Bee, don’t fret. How much trouble can I get into overnight?”
    “That’s what worries me.” She squeezed my hands so tightly that I gritted my teeth
     rather than wince. “Dearest, promise me you’ll do nothing rash.”
    “Ouch! I’ll promise whatever you wish, only you’re crushing my fingers again!”
    She released me at last. I waved as she drove off down the cobblestone street through
     the quiet neighborhood where lived people whose labor built and sustained the city
     of Expedition.
    The moment I went back inside, one of the lads handed me a broom. I swept between
     the benches and tables as had been my habit in the weeks I had lived and worked here,
     for I had come to enjoy the household’s routine. When I finished, I went to the shaded
     outdoor kitchen.
    “Aunty,” I said to Djeneba as she prepared a big pot of rice and peas, “I don’t see
     Rory and Luce. Did they go to the batey game?”
    A wry smile creased her lined face. “So they did, Cat. By that frown, I reckon yee’s
     not so glad to see Luce walking out with yee brother.”
    My frown deepened. “I am not! He’s no better than a tomcat. A pleasant, kind, charming,
     and well-mannered tomcat, but no better regardless.”
    “Luce is sixteen now. Old enough to choose for she own self.” She handed me a wooden
     spoon and directed me to stir the pot as she added more salt and pepper. “Is yee determined
     to wait tables tonight? Yee don’ have to work if yee’ve no mind to do it.”
    The pot simmered, a luscious flavor wafting up. I licked my lips as I wielded the
     spoon. “Aunty, you know I can’t sit quietly. Waiting tables will keep my mind off
     Vai.”
    “It surely did before.” Aunty’s laugh coaxed a reluctant smile to my lips as I remembered
     the clever way he had won me over by bringing me delicious fruit to eat and confiding
     in me about his embrace of radical principles. “Yee never could seem to make up yee
     mind about Vai. Yee pushed him back with one hand and pulled him close with the other.
     What settled yee?”
    “Really, Aunty, did you think he would give up before he got what he wanted?”
    “Yee’s a stubborn gal, Cat. I had me doubts.”
    “You shouldn’t have had. I think I was always a little infatuated with him, even back
     when I disliked him for his high-handed ways. The Blessed Tanit knows he’s handsome
     enough to overwhelm the most heartless gal.”
    “Good manners and a steady heart matter more than looks, although he have all three
     in plenty. Still, I reckon yee have the right of it. ’Tis no easy task for a gal to
     say no to a lad as fine as he. Especially after the patient way he courted yee.” She
     took the spoon. “Yee get that man back.”
    “I will get him back, I promise you, Aunty.” I did not add that I had no idea how
     I was going to manage it. “Bee will help me. We’re going to make our plans tomorrow.”
    The thought of him trapped in my sire’s claws made me burn. Yet not even worrying
     could dampen my appetite. I ate two bowls of Aunty’s excellent rice and peas, by which